Teacher education faculty from four diverse institutions (Utah State, West Virginia University, Mills College, and St. Petersburg College) are collaborating with the Math Forum to study the development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) in elementary Preservice Teachers (PTs) who participate in online mathematics mentoring experiences. The study is investigating the retention and application of this knowledge during the PTs' student teaching experiences in the field. Faculty, along with their PTs, are learning to use the Virtual Fieldwork Sequence (VFS), a structured set of online modules that supports PTs to work with grade level mathematics, identify student strengths, and provide feedback to "live" students on-line. A key element of the professional development model and a large part of its uniqueness is that the faculty are reflecting on and analyzing the data and describing the findings from their pilot study, including the impact of the VFS on student MKT.
The work is expected to yield significant findings concerning the learning of preservice teachers by investigating how MKT might be further developed. The project adopts an on-the-job approach to the professional development of the involved faculty, a strategy that prior research has shown to be significant in promoting change in teaching practices. One of the outcomes is an on-line professional development module that is collaborative, situated, and focused on developing preservice teachers' MKT. The students involved are non-traditional, underrepresented minority, first-generation college students. The project has an impact on both the teaching approaches of faculty of undergraduate STEM students and the students' MKT both of which are currently recognized as areas of STEM education needing improvement.
